


Scorpion

by Kharon



Series: Red [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Future Fic, Gen, Next Generation, Suna Village, Uchiha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-10-09 19:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10419645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kharon/pseuds/Kharon
Summary: Sasorithey call him.There was once another famous man from Suna bearing that name, but he had already been a memory by the time Akashi had been born. Now he's been forgotten by all but the old guard, replaced by another, younger, man who is no less lethal.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is story is EWE ("Epilogue, what epilogue?") and ignores chapter 700 of the manga and all associated material from the anime/films.

_Sasori_ they call him.

There was once another famous man from Suna bearing that name, but he had already been a memory by the time Akashi had been born. Now he's been forgotten by all but the old guard, replaced by another, younger, man who is no less lethal.

Akashi grew up knowing about the old Sasori, the _Scorpion of the Red Sand_ , but even then he was only a footnote in stories filled with gods, tailed beasts and _jinchuuriki_. His uncle Naruto, the Nanadaime Hokage, was the last of them, and when he died his _bijuu_ died with him – at least that's what they say.

Their world his one without tailed beasts now, without inhuman powers and gods descending to the earth wanting to destroy it. It's just humans fighting another, rare strength and cunning trying to prevail over the other.

Just this time they aren't fighting ninja against ninja, nation against nation, but civilians against ninja, common people against the _daimyou_.

The Land of Water is the only of the great nations that has a history in civil war. Their people, both shinobi and civilians, fought oppression for many years, fought against a mad ruler who slaughtered their own people. _The Bloody Mist_ , the books call it. Their people remember, even the young ones.

There has never been a civil war again in Kiri's history, but today it is brewing over all of the other elemental nations. The people want freedom, they don't want to pay tribute to lords anymore who hold their titles simply because they were _born_ into them, they want to rule themselves… and they will spill the blood of those opposing them if they have to.

He hasn't been to Sunagakure, the place where he was born, the place he grew up in, _his home_ , in years, but even far in the outskirts of in the Land of Wind Akashi can easily see the rebellion brewing, the hate and the disgust for those thinking they can keep the world as it has been for too long.

One day soon he will have to go back. Back to the memories, back to the graves of his parents, back to his sister who has been holding the Kazekage's office for almost twenty years. He won't come in peace.

Thinking about her, Akaya, his twin, his other half, hurts. He left long ago, but even now the wound in his soul feels fresh, the hole in his heart the same it was when he first turned his back on her. _This_ won't go away, it will stay with him until the day he kills her – or she kills him.

They have the same red hair, the same stubbornness and quick temper. The only difference between them always was their eyes, his green like their mother's and hers teal like their father's. It symbolizes the fundamental difference in their values he thinks now: she wants peace and he wants fairness. They have become the mirrors of their parents.

 _I'm sorry, Akaya_ , he says in his head, says it over and over again, has been saying it for years now. He left her. He let his temper get the better of him and abandoned her, he left her alone with their father's hat she'd thought she could never do justice; he ran from the responsibility and the memories he couldn't handle.

The sun is rising on the horizon. A new day begins, another day that brings him closer to what he dreads with every fiber of his being. _I love you, sis. I won't ever let anyone hurt you_ , he promised her once. 

A cloaked figure appears between the stunted trees in the west, approaching the rock formation he sits on. He watches the stranger coming, enjoying the first rays of the sun on his bare torso. The scorpion tattoo is there for everyone to see, covering his entire left shoulder, the head resting on the place where his heart beats fast under his skin.

 _Sasori_. Akashi. Traitor, brother, soldier, rebel leader… he's all of that. In a few years he will be older than their father ever was, if he doesn't die by his sister's hands before that. His mother would hate him for what he has done, he's sure of it, but he also knows that she'd do the same thing he's doing now if she was in his position. She never shied away from pain.

With one last, powerful jump the other shinobi lands on the cliff beside him, cloak blowing in the wind.

His hair his bright red, but hers is darker, the color of blood. The long strands dance in the hot gusts of wind coming from the desert. _Children of war_ they are called now. She is a descendant of one of the two oldest ninja clans in the world. The other one went extinct when his uncle died.

"Uchiha," he greets her somberly.

"Sasori of the Sand," she replies, dark eyes tracing the tattoo etched into his skin.

 It's what he is, but also everything he hates about himself.

"I was born Sabaku no Akashi, even though the title was taken from me years ago," he professes, not sure whether it is for her or his benefit. Nobody has addressed him by his real name in years.

" _Akashi_ ," she tests the name, an involuntary quiver running through his body at the word.

He looks away from her then and towards the sun rising over the dunes in the distance. He wants to close his eyes, wants to press his face into the dirt beneath his feet and cry in shame, but those are luxuries he can't allow himself.

She turns to follow his gaze with a faint rustle of clothing.

"Uchiha Madara swore alliance to Senju Hashirama. He broke his oath. Our clan swore their allegiance to Konohagakure. They broke the second oath. Uchiha Itachi redeemed our disgrace, but killed his family and broke the third oath. Uchiha Sasuke swore his allegiance to Uzumaki Naruto, and he died by that…"

Soft, cold fingers touch his shoulder blade and trace he tattoo along his skin in feather light touches until they come to rest over his heart.

"We are a clan soaked in blood, but we won't break my grandfather's oath. We can't," her voice is hoarse. "Uzumaki Naruto would not have allowed Konoha shinobi to lift arms against her own citizens… we are yours."

So it is decided. He waited for this day for seven years, but his emotions at hearing what he has been planning for all this time, _treason_ , coming to fruition still surprises him. For a moment he gasps for breath.

"What is your name, child?"

She is so _young_ , maybe twenty, twenty-two? She was born into the beginnings of this war, grew up in the rising tension that will tear nations apart, and he isn't sure if she will live to see another era rise.

"Uchiha Akane," she whispers, her words being carried away by the wind.

He laughs. Of course, another red one.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Aka(i)_ in Japanese means "red". Also I didn't translate _sabaku no_ , as while _sabaku_ means "desert", in the manga it is written by combining the kanji for "sand" and "waterfall".
> 
> Just a random idea for a more dystopic take on the next generation. [The setting is roughly 55 years after the beginning of the manga].


End file.
